Rising markups, market power and market concentration are considered primary concerns that require an immediate policy response. At this event we will analyse the reasons behind the global trends in corporate margins and market concentration. Do they signal a lack of market competition or are they linked to new technology efficiencies and the organic growth of industrial players?

We will also discuss whether current competition policy tools are adequate to address related concerns. Do we need a new approach, and if yes, what should its basic ingredients and characteristics be?

Speakers:

Fiona Scott Morton, Theodore Nierenberg Professor of Economics, Yale

Georgios Petropoulos, Research Fellow, Bruegel

Adina Claici, Director and head of the Brussels office at Copenhagen Economics

Nicolas Petit, Professor of Law, University of Liege

Arno Rasek, Chief Economist, German Competition Authority (Bundeskartellamt)

For more information consult: http://bruegel.org/events/market-power-and-its-implications-to-competition-policy/

Markups measure how much higher prices of output goods are relative to their marginal production costs. In other words, they measure the margin of revenue over variable costs. Recent literature, starting with De Loecker and Eeckhout (2018), reports that markups have substantially increased since 1980.

At this event we will review the available empirical evidence on markups and investigate the implications for market concentration, market power, productivity, and economic growth.

Speakers:

Jan De Loecker, Professor, KU Leuven and Research Professor, Research Council (FWO)

Chair: Georgios Petropoulos, Research Fellow, Bruegel

Chiara Criscuolo, Head of Division, Productivity and Business Dynamics, OECD

Fabien Curto Millet, Director of economics, Google

Jeffrey Franks, Director, IMF Europe Office

Reinhilde Veugelers, Senior Fellow, Bruegel

The event presented the EIB Investment Report, which is the bank’s flagship economic publication. Published once a year, it is designed to provide a comprehensive overview of the developments and drivers of investment and credit conditions in the EU. The presentation also covered an in-depth study of innovation, investment in intangible assets and digitalisation as drivers of productivity growth.

For more information consult the webpage of the event: http://bruegel.org/events/presenting-the-eib-investment-report/

Presentation

William Kovacic, Professor of global competition law and policy, George Washington University ; Former chairman, U.S. Federal Trade Commission

Panel discussion

Chair: Georgios Petropoulos, Research Fellow

Cristina Caffarra, Vice President, Head of European Competition Practice, Charles River Associates

Antonio Capobianco, Senior competition expert, OECD

Kris Dekeyser, Director, Policy and Strategy, European Commission, DG COMP

Georg Zachmann, Senior Fellow, Bruegel

Antoine Dechezleprêtre, Senior Economist, Environment Directorate and Economics Department, OECD

Beatriz Yordi Aguirre, Director for EU and International Carbon Markets, European Commission, DG CLIMA

Sander de Bruyn, Environmental economics coordinator, CE Delft

Presentation:

Glen Weyl, Principal Researcher, Microsoft Research

Panel discussion:

Chair: Georgios Petropoulos, Research Fellow, Bruegel

Eline Chivot, Senior policy analyst, ITIF's Center for Data Innovation

Orla Lynskey, Assistant Professor, London School of Economics

Bertin Martens, Senior economist and team leader for the Digital Economy research programme, European Commission, JRC

Thiébaut Weber, Confederal Secretary, ETUC

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